Seahawks' sloppy start to 2nd half allows Tar Heels to pull away

Tuesday

Dec 31, 2013 at 9:30 PM

Five turnovers in the first seven minutes of the second half allowed UNC to go on a big run

By Alex Rileyalex.riley@starnewsonline.com

CHAPEL HILL | Coming out of the halftime locker room, UNCW knew exactly what North Carolina was going to do in the second half of Tuesday's college basketball game at the Dean E. Smith Center. The Seahawks figured the No. 19 Tar Heels were going to apply defensive pressure on every possession, trying to force bad decisions. Turns out UNCW was right, but there was little the team could do to respond. Five turnovers in the first seven minutes of the second half allowed UNC to go on a big run and cruise to an 84-51 win. "They got us in a little trouble with their length, ball pressure," junior forward Cedrick Williams said. He led the team with 18 points and nine rebounds."We knew they were going to turn it up in the second half. They came out and they delivered the first punch, and we didn't respond the way that we wanted to."A strong rally at the end of the first half helped the Seahawks (6-9) come back from a 15-point deficit to trail by just eight at the break. All that momentum went by the wayside over the first 6:17 of the second half. During that time, UNCW had five turnovers, three missed shots and just four points.The Tar Heels (10-3) used those turnovers to turn a single-digit lead into a 20-point advantage. With 13:47 left in the second half, UNC had gone on a 14-4 run that put it up 20. "We know they're both long and athletic. They were just trying to use their athleticism to take us out of our offense and make us take quick shots so they could get back on fast breaks again," senior guard Chris Dixon said. He finished with 12 points off the bench. After committing just seven turnovers in the first half, the Seahawks gave the ball away 10 times over the final 20 minutes. UNC turned those 17 turnovers in 25 points. Over the last five games, UNCW has turned it over 15-plus times in four contests. The team hasn't had a positive assist-to-turnover ratio (13-10) since winning at East Carolina on Dec. 1. Compounding the inability to hold onto the ball were UNCW's struggles to hit shots. The Seahawks shot 31.1 percent from the floor (19 of 61). It's the second straight game they have not shot better than 35 percent. The Tar Heels shot 62.9 percent in the second half (22 of 35) and finished the game at 52.3 percent. The turnovers and missed shots helped UNC score 18 fast-break points. The Tar Heels also put down 10 dunks, eight of which came in the second half."When you turn the ball over, it's hard to get back on defense in transition and stop the dunks and everything," UNCW head coach Buzz Peterson said. "Carolina is a top-20 program. They're a very good basketball team, and you make mistakes like that, they're going to make you pay."